Sward - Word of the Day

[Merriam-Webster]( WORD OF THE DAY [February 16, 2017](#none) sward [Audio pronunciation]( noun | SWORD Definition 1 : a portion of ground covered with grass 2 : the grassy surface of land Scroll down for more about sward WORD GAMES AND QUIZZES: WEEKLY CHALLENGE [Valentine's Day Quiz]( A quiz for lovers and haters [PLAY NOW]( Nailed this quiz? We have plenty more to try! [TAKE ME THERE [>]]( Plus: [SEE WHAT LOOKUPS ARE TRENDING NOW! [>]]( Did You Know? Sward sprouted from the Old English sweard or swearth, meaning "skin" or "rind." It was originally used as a term for the skin of the body before being extended to another surface—that of the earth's. The word's specific grassy sense dates back more than 500 years, but it rarely crops up in contemporary writing. The term, however, has been planted in a number of old novels, such as in this quote from Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles: "The sun was so near the ground, and the sward so flat, that the shadows of Clare and Tess would stretch a quarter of a mile ahead of them...." Examples of SWARD "It was a blind and despairing rush by the collection of men in dusty and tattered blue, over a green sward and under a sapphire sky, toward a fence, dimly outlined in smoke, from behind which spluttered the fierce rifles of enemies." — Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage, 1895 "A few hundred yards upstream of the mill was a dam and a small lake. Along its east shore was Riverside Park with its gazebos and grassy swards and, come summer, flocks of picnickers." — Marc Hudson, The Journal Review (Crawfordsville, Indiana), 28 May 2016 Test Your Vocabulary Fill in the blanks to complete a word for a level open stretch of paved or grassy ground: e _ pl _ n _ _ e. [VIEW THE ANSWER [>]]( NEW WORDS We Just Added More Than 1,000 New Words to the Dictionary From 'binge-watch' to 'Seussian' [FIND OUT MORE [>]]( MORE WORD FUN: [WORD GAMES [>]]( [TRENDING NOW [>]]( [WORDS AT PLAY [>]]( FOLLOW US: [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [YouTube]( [Instagram]( [Pinterest]( SHARE: [Facebook][Facebook]( [Twitter][Twitter]( [View this email in a web browser]( You are receiving this email because you opted in to receive the Merriam-Webster Word of the Day. [Unsubscribe from Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day]( [Manage your subscription settings]( Merriam-Webster, Inc. 47 Federal Street P.O. Box 281 Springfield, MA 01102 [www.merriam-webster.com](